


5+1 Loki's Spirit

by jar_of_stars



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Community: norsekink, Gen, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-11-28 08:41:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18206162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jar_of_stars/pseuds/jar_of_stars
Summary: Loki dies in the void but since his death was traumatic and his despair so strong at the moment of his death, he ends up as a ghost confined to Asgard.Five Times Loki’s ghost appeared before them and one looking for him.





	5+1 Loki's Spirit

**1**

Restlessness blankets Asgard when Loki is lost to the realm. The chill in the air and the feeling of isolation that follow are strongest at the broken bridge. From his post, Heimdall expects to see ice and snow from the drop in temperature. The gatekeeper suspects that Jotunheim’s climate is settling over the Realm Eternal.

After his funeral, Loki’s final shout echoes at the shattered bridge and observatory when activity in the area begins. The people tasked to repair the Bifrost flee the site, unable to withstand the cold and despair seeping into their bones. Whenever someone dares to look over the broken edge, they see Loki falling just beyond reach. They believe to have missed a second chance to save him and have to be dragged to the solid ground of Asgard. The place is said to be cursed.

Everyone who sees Loki is too late to react. They are always a second too late to be able to pull him away from the grasp of the void and are unable to move from the spot without someone else’s intervention. Witnesses say that Loki looks like he knows that he won’t be saved but reaches out for the chance that someone will catch his hand. There are warnings to stay away from the broken bridge and any hope that it will be fixed soon is snuffed out.

Heimdall is left alone to endure.

 

**2**

There are sightings of Loki within the palace now. The tutors of the second prince see a fleeting vision of him and feel a wisp of cool air when they go to the library for research. They notice him in the corner of their eye but when they turn their head, the prince is no longer there. The age they see him varies depending on who taught the prince in his stage in life.

The instructors approach Loki’s favorite area to study with a sense of melancholy and leave an offering on the table for him. For the child, there are toys and stories he may had missed when he became too old to read them. The adolescent is given books on subjects that had captured his interest at that time. The young man they had recently lost is gifted with the tomes they collected from other realms along with talismans to aid his spirit. The table is now covered with gifts and notes from friends and admirers of the second prince. The All-Mother thanks those who left tributes to Loki’s memory.

Once it became widely known that there are glimpses of Loki in the palace library, Prince Thor made appearances in the area. A previous tutor did not know how to approach the Crown Prince when he noticed Thor stare at the gifts placed on the table for Loki. Prince Thor left with his expression a mixture of frustration and anguish with his brother following a few paces behind him.

 

**3**

Odin is troubled every time someone who had seen Loki at the broken bridge kneels and apologizes to him for failing to rescue the prince. Anything Odin tried to remove the scene of Loki falling did not work and he has lost count on how many times he witnessed his son’s death. The people bowing down before him expect to be punished for something that not even he had done when the actual chance to save Loki was possible. He reassures them that no penalty will befall them and tells them that what they saw was a remaining image created from the clashing energies of the void and Bifrost. The All-Father can never forget the haunted look on their faces.  

There was a funeral held for Loki but the uncertainty of the shattered bridge and events of the previous days had them preparing feasts to keep everyone occupied and to give his council time to regroup. The palace continues to host guests from other realms who arrived for Thor’s coronation and can no longer withhold their displeasure of being trapped in Asgard. He realizes too late that the distractions are an insult to Loki and to those who did not want to hide their grief as they watched Asgard move on far too quickly. Odin attempts to ease his conscious by telling himself that he needs to place his duties as King first.

The uneasiness at Asgard increases with the cold spreading through the realm. The meeting in the All-Father’s council room concerns the reconstruction of the bridge. No one wants to set foot there after the warnings.

The room’s temperature progressively drops by the minute. The councilors grip their coats closer to themselves and attempt to bear through the meeting. When the cold filling the room can no longer go ignored, it is then that Odin sees Loki as a child standing by the wall. No one else takes notice of Loki and they continue to look for ways to fix the bridge.

Odin finds it difficult to not glance at Loki but it becomes unbearable when his son begins to cry. There is no sound but he cannot tell if it is a blessing or not. He is spared from hearing the cries of his youngest son but maybe some noise would alert someone else of Loki’s presence in the room with them. None of the other council members look towards Loki’s direction but they sense the waves of sadness from him. Odin cannot separate his attention between the meeting and Loki any longer and proposes to reschedule the session. The rest of the council immediately agree, say their farewells, and leave the room as quickly as they can without offending their King.

Odin orders the guards not to allow anyone in while he remains in the council room. He goes to Loki and hovers his hand over the child’s shoulder. Previous encounters had his hand go through Loki’s arm but the image in front of him would not vanish as a standard illusion would if touched. He knows that there is nothing but empty air where Loki now stands.

Loki always appears to him as a child when seen in the palace, sitting or standing within his view while giving him space. Sometimes Loki cries silently and Odin was left to wonder if this occurred in front of him when his son yet breathed and he did not take notice. He wants to spare Frigga and Thor from seeing Loki and being unable to console the child with him. He does not call for them unless their presence is completely necessary but it is not too difficult to keep them away ever since their last argument.

Odin wants to ask the apparition in front of him what he needs to find peace, but he does not know how to speak to the child. His child. He struggles to accept that he is unable to offer any comfort to his son. The only family keeping him company now is Loki but he cannot hold his son and he can’t trust himself to find the words to reach for him. He slumps in front of Loki, no longer hiding his weariness and lets his own tears fall. All Odin wants at the moment is for everything to stop and allow him to settle his own sorrow but he needs to compose himself and return to the throne.

“Forgive me Loki.” Odin laments with the voice of a tired old man as he leaves his child once more in order to be the King of Asgard.

That evening, Odin sees the familiar scene of Loki following after Thor and allows himself to pretend that all is well.

 

**4**

Frigga worries when Thor goes to her in distress so soon after they lost Loki.

“Mother, why would Loki-” He covers his face with his hands and attempts to start over. “The Bifrost…”

She tries to run her hand through his tangled hair as she speaks. “There was no time to get to him when the bridge shattered.”

Thor pulls away and stares at her in confusion. “He let go.”

That was not what Odin had told her.

“Thor, what happened out there?”

“Father said that he would tell you.”

“How did we lose Loki?” She continues when Thor hesitates. “I need to know what happened.”

Thor looks down at his fists grasping air and rushes when speaking of the events. “Loki opened the Bifrost to Jotunheim. I broke the bridge with Mjolnir and we were thrown over the edge. Father caught me and Loki held onto Gungnir. Then…” Thor shakes his head and forces himself to finish explaining. “Then Loki was talking to father saying that he ‘Could have done it’. I don’t understand. Father said ‘No’ and Loki let go and fell into the void.”

Thor contradicted the news Odin had given her. Odin told her that with the Bifrost open for so long, the energy shattered the bridge and the force threw Loki to the void before he arrived.

Frigga’s disposition worsens with the haste to prepare Loki’s funeral. It is just herself with Thor sorting through Loki’s belongings after she suggested to Odin that Asgard needs its King. They find a note in Loki’s handwriting. The crumpled piece of parchment is folded and hidden under a pile of books on his writing desk. They smooth out the creases to read the words _‘I cannot be Laufeyson’_.

Frigga can no longer contain what she knows about the circumstances of Loki’s adoption. She explains to Thor as much as she can about the events during his banishment and admits to placing the responsibility of leading Asgard and having to prepare for war on Loki’s shoulders. She believed that Loki needed the chance to see for himself what he can accomplish without someone else overshadowing him. It was not the right time and she has to live with that knowledge now. Where Odin was going to be there for Thor during the transition of kingship, Loki was left without a guide.

Thor takes another look at Loki’s note and storms off to Odin’s office. She follows and places a silencing spell to hide the uproar in the area as she waits for her husband at the corridor. By the time Odin arrives, Thor had destroyed most of the room and a thunderstorm rages outside the palace.

Between having Thor banished without warning and Odin attempting to leave her unaware that Loki could have been saved, she had enough. The three of them lose their tempers and their next interactions are tense. They want to have each other to talk to, but have their blame pushing them away at the same time.

The royal family stands stoically side by side when they watch as Loki’s funeral boat is lighted by an arrow and later mourn in separate chambers.

Frigga understands that Asgard needs to keep moving but she needs time to process that she had lost her son. She isolates herself when she can and does not allow for Odin to hold her hand longer than necessary during public appearances. She often takes refuge in her gardens, where Loki continues to visit her and walks between the flowerbeds and fountains. She had also seen her youngest keep Thor company while the royal family is still unable to make amends with each other.

Her magic flows through the garden in a gentle gold mist to give her plants resistance against the chilly weather. Today, Loki is a child taking a nap on a blanket. She watches him protectively as she questions herself over Loki’s actions during Thor’s banishment. Guilt settles in her stomach that the reason her son’s soul is anchored to Asgard is because she cannot bear to completely lose him.  

**5**

The warriors who went to Midgard to bring back their banished prince, lose their privileges upon their return. Sif, Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun are ordered by their King to clean and put away the equipment in the training hall. They are phased out to the lower tables at the feast hall with reasoning that nobles and guests from visiting realms require the seats. Their breaking of the King’s laws is not made public but others have taken notice that they had fallen out of favor with the royal family.

The task to clean the training hall at the end of each class falls solely on the four of them. The chore often lasts well into the evening and with the freezing temperature at night, they cannot finish soon enough. They had never experienced such cold before venturing into Jotunheim. The walk back to their quarters is long and dark and they are too tired to appreciate their dinner.

A few days into serving their punishment, they hear the sounds of someone hitting one of the practice dummies. Volstagg goes to confront the trespasser and shouts Loki’s name in surprise. The rest of the warriors arrive in time to see Loki rush out of the training hall. The next time they see Loki, they notice that he is barely an adolescent, the age he began to train with various weapons.

They take turns passing by the practice ring every night and see Loki leave before the prince’s presence becomes too much for them. No matter who tries to speak with the younger Loki, he would leave at the barest sign of them. In their frustration they yell at his retreating figure for his reason for haunting them. Loki never answers them.

They do not deny enjoying the privileges and status the highest social circle gave them for being the friends of the Crown Prince. They can no longer approach Thor with the All-Father banning them from speaking with him. They cannot ask Thor to appeal to the King on their behalf to withdraw their punishment for what they believe was for the good of Asgard. They shift blame and throw barbs at each other for their loss in rank. The downside of knowing each other for so long is that they know which insults hurt the most.

 

**+1**

The cold overwhelming Asgard is persistent when Thor hears of the first sightings of his brother at the shattered bridge, but he keeps his distance from the observatory to avoid seeing Loki slip away once more. He begins his search through the palace when there are rumors of his brother being seen at the library.

When he sees the gifts left for Loki at the library, he grows curious to know who else quietly shows that they miss him. He withdraws his hand before he touches anything and is upset with himself for not bringing anything for Loki. He leaves the library to attend another feast he would prefer to skip out on. His hand runs over the creases of Loki’s note and his mind goes back to the arguments in his father’s office.

* * *

 

_Thor could not remain still while waiting for his father to arrive to the office he stomped his way into. He believed that Loki should not have any doubt of his place in Asgard. Loki was not Laufeyson. He broke the desk at the thought of the frozen realm’s sovereign. Jotunheim’s King had no entitlement to his brother._

_“What is the matter of this!?” Odin shouted when he looked at the destruction of his office. “Thor, explain yourself.”_

_“What does this mean?” He shoved the note towards his father. “Loki wrote this.”_

_“Loki is Laufey’s son.”_

_“No, he is not.” He challenged. “Loki is my brother.”_

_“Odin…” Frigga’s voice was tense. “What did you tell Loki of this?”_

_“That I brought him to Asgard after the war and thought to have him bring peace from Jotunheim.”_

_“You were going to send him away!” Thor clutched whatever he could reach and threw it across the room. “I won’t forgive you for causing him to let go!”_

_“You could have caused him to fall off the bridge with your lack of control.” Thunder rattled the windows as if to prove Odin’s point. “You are not fit for the throne with this temper. You have learned nothing on Midgard.”_

_“You threw me to Midgard! Because of you, I was not here for Loki!” Thor hurled another object as thunder resonated from outside. “You took my brother away from me! I don’t want the throne, I want Loki back! Bring him back!” He stopped shouting to catch his breath._

_His mother placed a hand on his arm and spoke to Odin. “We should have let Loki know of his heritage sooner.”_

_“It was not the time.” His father answered her._

_“It is never the time!” She snapped with her eyes filling with tears. “It hurt him that we kept this from him for so long. We hurt Loki.”_

_“He did not need to know.” Odin reached for Frigga’s hand but she stepped away._

_His mother shook her head. “You would have me believe that Loki could not be saved.”_

_Thor let out a noise of frustration. “We had the right to know!”_

_His father stared down at him. “Would you have used Loki’s adoption against him?”_

_Thor was stunned by the question and stared blankly at his parents. What if he knew that Loki was not born an Odinson? “…I wouldn’t.” He did not mean to take so long to respond. What wounded him most was that his mother did not speak in his defense and he began to doubt his answer. His brother’s note crinkled in his hold. “I wouldn’t. Loki is not Laufeyson.” He claimed with more confidence. “What did Loki mean by ‘I could have done it’?”_

_Odin took a breath before replying. “To destroy Jotunheim and the Frost Giants.”_

_“Like in your stories? You told us that after bringing Loki from Jotunheim!?” His voice rose in volume with each question. “Did you or the council tell Loki to open the Bifrost there? Was sending the Destroyer an order for Loki?”_

_“No-”_

_Thor’s anger exploded at the word. “You have already lied to us! To all of us! What did you do to my brother!?”_

_“Enough!” Odin hit the end of Gungnir against the floor and declared his next order as King. “The official statement of Loki’s death has been given and his funeral arrangements must be prepared for tomorrow evening.”_

_Thor and his mother forced their replies that they accepted the instructions and went back to Loki’s rooms. They avoided speaking to each other as they ordered servants to organize his brother’s belongings on his funeral boat._

* * *

At the feast, Thor’s expression darkens as he watches everyone follow the example of the All-Father and continue to dine in merriment. He looks around the feast hall and cannot find the warriors who had been his closest friends. It is difficult to accept that it was wrong for them to try to bring him back home. He was glad to see them during his banishment and he misses speaking with them but they went against Loki’s rule when the All-Mother entrusted him with Asgard. They abandoned his brother when he could not be there for him.

The feeling of losing Loki is still too raw. He wants to disrupt the festivities to demand why no one else is grieving his brother as he is. Thor exits the hall before he gives in to his anger and continues forging his way ahead to find Loki.

**Author's Note:**

> A story for this prompt: https://norsekink.livejournal.com/12950.html?thread=31120022


End file.
